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Hi everyone. I was diagnosed HIV+ on 11/14 of this year after getting my blood drawn during my seroconversion period. I was so sick that my doctor decided to check for HIV and I'm happy he did because we caught it so early. The initial blood test that showed I was positive was ugly - my CD4 was 190 and my VL was >750,000. I started on Truvada that day (11/14) and Kaletra on 11/16 (pharmacy didn't have it in stock).

I went in yesterday to receive the results of my 1st blood draw after only 21 days on Truvada and 19 days on Kaletra. This is what it showed:

VL: 710CD4: 851

I knew there'd be some incremental improvement in both those numbers but for the VL to go from more than 750,000 to 710 in just 21 days was amazing to me. Even more amazing was how rapidly and how MUCH my CD4 improved. To go from a CD4 of 190 to a CD4 of 851 in three weeks shocked me but my doc said that it was a combination of my body finally getting on top of the initial infection along with taking meds to push the viral load down even faster. It was the best early Xmas present I could ever hope for.

I really feel that all the support I've received from my parents, friends, and you guys on here has helped me mentally and physically cope with this. Thank you all. And I know everyone has their own belief systems about God, but I pray a LOT and I feel it helped me get through this initial shock of being positive with hope. God seems to be on my side here, and I am so grateful.

Just wanted to share the good news with everyone! My liver and kidney tests were all in the normal range and my cholesterol was 185. I suppose this makes a case for the "hit hard, hit early" crowd.

Dear Patrick, it might seem a little silly to write to you in this forum, but I wanted to stress to anyone reading this how important it is to have all pieces in place -- the right doctors, the right medicines at the right time, a focus elsewhere (as in a career), exercise, nutrition, etc., but when combining all of these with unconditional love and prayer, it's unimaginably powerful. Your news was a gift to you, but to me and your Dad as well. We love you so much!

Thanks John. I'm glad to hear there's empirical evidence showing that my treatment has a high likelihood of being effective a year from now. I sure as heck hope so! I have minimal side-effects now that I've overcome the initial ones that everyone seems to get. I hope and plan to be on this combination for many years. I have been 100% compliant so far and REALLY plan to continue to be so indefinetly. My goal is to have each regimen I'm on last for many years so that newer/better regimens are designed faster than I go through them. This way I can stay "ahead of the curve" and live the "normal life expectancy" that both my primary care and ID docs feel I can have.

And thanks MOM!! For those reading this thread, I cannot stress enough how helpful a support system is in coping with this disease. My parents have shown nothing but unconditional love. My mom truly lives up to her forum name as "LovingMom".